Jelly Belly

I was greeted by a most unusual Jelly Belly package in the mail the other day. I wasn’t expecting anything, so naturally it was a nice surprise. Inside was one of the most interesting press kits I’ve seen in a long time. For once I was given instructions to eating candy! It’s been a long time since I’ve seen such a thing. What other candy would need instructions other than Jelly Belly’s new Tabasco Jelly Beans!

I feel quite tickled that Jelly Belly is doing something so daring as Tabasco flavored beans. Not everyone is into spicy flavors as they are quite an acquired taste. I’ve learned recently to appreciate spicy things. Which is another reason why I was so pleased about this sample, it’ll give me a chance to see how the spice translates to a jelly bean.

I take my first bean out and pop it into my mouth. The flavor starts of sweet and you can really taste the flavor of the chili without the heat. It’s peppery with some sweetness. After a moment of chewing the spice then kicks in and it’s incredibly authentic to Tabasco sauce’s kick. This bean does have some heat to it. I certainly had my mouth burning, but in a good way, for a bit even after I had finished eating it. My husband tried some too and he really liked them. He felt the flavor was accurate to Tabasco sauce and had some heat to it. To be fair, his heat tolerance is way higher than mine, so the beans weren’t nearly as spicy to him. Still I did really enjoy the flavor, even if I could only eat one at a time.

I did try the Tabasco jelly beans with some of the citrus beans like the instructions in the press packet suggested. It certainly erased the flavor of the chili in the beginning of the bean. But it didn’t erase the heat of the bean. The spiciness of the Tabasco still shines through the citrus flavors of the other beans. It’s different but still very tasty.

I don’t think these Jelly Belly beans are for everyone. If you’re into spice and “hot’ foods, I certainly say go for it. If you’re not, I really don’t think you could get past how authentic the jelly bean tastes.

One of the most surprising samples I’ve received in 2012 were these two limited editions of Uno® and Apples to Apples®. I hadn’t played Uno® in some time, and I’ve never played Apples to Apples® before, so my first step was to read about how the games are played. Little did I know there’s been several limited editions to each of these games over the years, and the Jelly Belly versions are just one of the newest ones.

Each game comes with some changes to the original product. The Jelly Belly Uno® comes with Jelly Belly jelly bean shaped cards, new Jelly Belly inspired rules and of course, Jelly Belly beans! There’s multiple flavors included with Jelly Belly Uno®, which include: Very Cherry, Sour Apple, Sour Lemon, Blueberry and Tutti-Fruitti. The colors look like they’re very appropriately chosen, and they match all the colors represented in the Uno® game. I especially liked the addition of the Tutti-Frutti flavor that’s the “wildcard” bean that incorporates all the colors. That felt very clever to me.

Apples to Apples® is a new experience for me. I first heard of it from my husband who would often play it with his family. My family, being more book-ish, never played board games much, but when we did it was more along the lines of RISK® or Stratego®. Apples to Apples® also has a lot of limited edition variations, according to Wikipedia at least. Again, I didn’t realize that this was such a popular thing for board games! Like the Jelly Belly Uno®, this version also has Jelly Belly jelly bean shaped cards, Jelly Belly inspired rules, and flavored Jelly Beans of Red and Green Apple.

My husband and I sat down to give these games a try. It was a learning experience for me since I basically had to learn both the games from square one. Regardless, the Jelly Belly inspired rules were easy to distinguish and added a nice “flavor” to the game. The bean shaped cards were fun, but a bit hard to shuffle. We both had a lot of fun trying them out. Also, if you are already familiar with each of the games, the slightly changed rules aren’t too difficult to learn. Each game is recommended for ages 7 and up, so I can see how these would make for a fun family night of gaming.

As for the Jelly Belly jelly beans? Yes, of course they were really tasty!

Jelly Belly has been branching out a lot in the past few years. They have found ways to keep flavors interesting and fresh, while keeping faithful to the classic beans. I feel today’s review of the Jelly Belly Chocolate Dips are one of those products. It’s the classic jelly beans we all know and love, but with the addition of a chocolate coating. I’ve reviewed some of the Dips in the past and today I’m trying one of the newer of the flavors: Strawberry.

The package has a wonderful smell once you open it. You mainly get notes of chocolate with a hint of sweetness of red berries and perfume. The chocolate covered Jelly Bellys have a nice sheen and they look like bigger, prettier Raisinets.

Tossing a couple into my mouth I lightly chew them to try and taste the chocolate before I get to the jelly bean. The chocolate tastes like a nice bittersweet chocolate. It’s not too bitter and it’s not too sweet. It has a good chocolate flavor without being too milky or sweet. The flavor of the strawberry bean is really strong. I’m not sure which of their strawberry beans they used for this one, but it’s really floral and has notes of raspberries in it. I was expecting more the strawberry jam flavor which was more authentic and concentrated. Balanced with the chocolate, the strawberry flavor is more floral then it is juicy, which I was surprised by. Together the flavors work really well and are really tasty. Neither the chocolate nor the strawberry steal the show, and they works together in balance. Once thing I did notice was that the beans don’t have the panned coating they normally do as “naked” jelly beans. I’m not sure why this is, but it’s something I noticed as I ate these.

I really enjoyed these and the friends I shared them with really enjoyed them too. One of the friends normally doesn’t like jelly beans but he expressed since the bean inside is different, it made the jelly bean enjoyable for him. I thought that was an interesting remark. Either way, it seems that whether or not you’re a fan of Jelly Belly’s jelly beans or not, it’s worth giving these a try to see if you like them!

I love candy orange slices. When I was a kid I was allowed to grab a few from the bins when I went to the grocery store with my Mom. To this day they’re a candy that I enjoy. I’m a little sad to find that they’re getting harder to find nowadays, but I hope that’s just the candy trend right now and hopefully they’ll stat showing up more frequently. So imagine my excitement when I was contacted by Jelly Belly asking if I’d be interesting in trying some samples to review. Being a big fan of jelly belly, I said yes, but I didn’t know what they planned on sending to me. These Sunkist Orange Slices where in that package.

I admit I haven’t had the Sunkist version of orange slices, only Brach’s and some other “store brands” whose name I don’t remember at the moment. These orange slices are smaller and softer than the ones I’m used to. They still carry the same shape with the rippled top of accentuate the orange slice shape. These are most squishy to the touch, and the granulated sugar is has a nice texture to it.

The flavor is similar to the Sunkist Gem orange flavor. It’s bright and fruity, with great sweet and zesty accents to make it come across as very “juicy”. Because these are smaller and softer, they’re very “pop-able”, you find yourself eating a bunch instead of stopping at one or two. Very yummy and very addicting.

Even though these are smaller I can easily imagine them as additions to vanilla ice cream and as decorations on top of cupcakes. They’re perfectly addicting as is but I can’t help but think of creative ways they could be used in other sweets and desserts. I think the orange slice is a really overlooked classic candy, and these Sunkist Orange slices are a wonderful addition to the genre.

Sunkist Gems have been around for as long as I can remember. I have eaten them a bunch of times over the years, when I get that special craving for citrus gummi candies. One of the grocery stores that I used to frequent back East (I still love and miss you Wegmans!) had a large candy bin section, with a big barrel of individually wrapped Sunkist Gems. I’d go through and pick out the grapefruit and lemons ones for myself as a treat every so often. They’re so yummy! Jelly Belly PR recently contacted me asking if I’d like to try some samples for the blog. Being such a big fan of their products I said yes, not knowing what they’d be mailing me. Lo and behold, I had a bag of Sunkist Fruit Gems!
The gems are round discs, a little smaller than the size of a poker chip, and stand at about 1/4 inch tall. They’re colorful, but in a muted colored with fruit juice kind of way, and covered with a coating of granulated sugar.

The gems come in five flavors:

Orange: This flavor is really great. It has nice nice orangy flavor to it that’s zesty but sweet. It almost has a tangerine taste to it from the zest, but it’s smoother than that. The flavor comes across as very juicy and satisfying. Really yummy.

Lemon: This flavor is awesome. It’s tart, zesty and juicy. All that a lemon should be. The nuances in this reminds me of limoncello. Very flavorful and so delicious.

Grapefruit: I was looking forward to this one the most. This one is smooth, so smooth. The flavor is a bit more delicate than the lemon and orange, yet the flavor is that richness of grapefruit I expect and look forward to. It has a great, juicy taste that is both sweet and sour, with a hint of bitterness. Really yummy.

Raspberry: Raspberry is sweet and lightly floral. It has a nice juicy berry-ness to the flavor but it’s not very intense. Other than that it’s just sweet with no real defining notes.

Blueberry: Blueberry is sweet and has an perfumey flavor to it. I taste berries, but not specifically blueberries. Something about it is oddly “red” though, like hints of red licorice laces. It’s tasty ,and out of all the flavors in the bag I had the most of this one.
I do feel a little disappointed with the Raspberry and Blueberry flavors, not because I didn’t like how thy tasted, but more because I miss how these were a citrus fruit mix. The lime flavor got booted and these were added in. It does add more to the rainbow of colors. I shared these with my fiance and he just raved about them. Little did I know that these are a childhood favorite of his (I’ve never seen him by them himself) so he really enjoyed having these again. We both really enjoyed these and now that I know how much he loves them, I’ll be buying these more often!